High Court crackdown on illegal hoardings is a big relief, says Bengaluru activist

BENGALURU: Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials were shocked by a Karnataka High Court order. Hearing a petition on illegal flexes and banners in the city, the court ordered the city corporation to make Bengaluru free of flexes, banners and buntings before that afternoon. A month later, even as the case is being heard by the court, there is a visible change as roads and public places are free from outdoor advertisements. The court order also forced the BBMP to pass a resolution banning all forms of outdoor advertisements for a year. For Saidatta, the main petitioner in the case, the court’s intervention has come as a big relief. The social activist, who has been fighting the advertisement mafia for over four years, sees the court order as a step towards cleansing the city. In an interview, Saidatta talks about his fight and what he intends to achieve. Edited excerpts:

When and how did you begin your fight against illegal outdoor advertisements?It all began four years ago. Back then, I had seen a few advertisement hoardings displaying court stay order numbers on their poles. Out of curiosity, when I checked the numbers on the court website, I realised that those numbers were not related to advertisement cases at all. I realised that it was a trick that advertising agencies were adopting to retain illegal advertisement hoardings. It prompted me to file a complaint with the Lokayukta.

How many cases and petitions related to outdoor advertisements have you filed? What is their status?I have filed three advertisement-related cases and petitions. The first was the complaint with the Lokayukta. An FIR was filed and an investigation was on for some time. The Lokayukta police raided advertising agencies but no chargesheet was filed. In 2016, I filed a writ petition with the Karnataka High Court. My plea was that the case be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation. The petition was based on K Mathai’s (the BBMP’s then assistant commissioner of advertisement) reports on a Rs 2,000-crore advertisement scam. But the state handed it over to the Criminal Investigation Department and the case is crawling.

How did the latest case happen?I filed a fresh petition with the high court in February last year seeking directions against illegal flexes and banners. Two other activists filed separate petitions on illegal advertisement hoardings. The court, while hearing our cases, ordered the BBMP to remove flexes, banners, buntings and hoardings.

What was your intention when you took up the fight? Do you think you have succeeded in your efforts?There are several dimensions. First, these advertisements are an eyesore. Second, they are all illegal, causing thousands of crores of revenue loss to the BBMP. I wanted to put an end to this illegality and break the nexus between the bureaucracy and politicians who allowed it to flourish. I think I have partially succeeded in my attempt to rid the city of (illegal) advertisements. The BBMP has decided to introduce a new advertising policy and I hope with it advertising will be streamlined in Bengaluru.